Blowout protector for oil and gas wells



May 8, 1951 .G. c. SINGER 2,552,226

BLOWOUT PROTECTOR FOR OIL AND GAS WELLS Filed Oct. 4, 1948 75 f6 a 27 v mmm N, Sli/$701.5

Patented May 8, 1951 BLOWOUT PROTECTOR FOR OIL AND GAS WELLS Grover Clemente Singer,v Brownsville, Tex.

fipplicationfOctober4 4, 1948, Serial No. 52,735

4 (Hai-ms. 1

My present invention rel'atesto control valves for use in connection with apparatus used in thedrilling of oil and gas` wells and. it has for its object to provide a valve headf particularly adapted for use inelds where high pressures are encountered when the producingl horizon: is encountered by the drilling tools.

My invention comprehends av blow out pro' tector especially adapted to be applied to either a rotary drill stem or to a well casing having an interior construction in which opposed shut on valves cooperate. to control the escape of huid, either of which may be adjusted to eiiecta complete shut olif' ofthe. outletpassage.

Another object of my invention is the prov-n sion of alined adjustable members one forming a valve seat through which uid under pressure may escape under control of.' an internal needle valve, theY other member cooperating with said rst mentioned member to further reduce the pressure, of fluid which passes said needle valve.

To. these and. other ends my invention coml prises further improvements and advantagesL as will be further described in. the accompanying specification, the novel features thereof being set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig-ure 1 is a vertical sectional view of; a blow out preventer embodying my invention showing the valves in one position of adjustment.

Figure 2 is a similar View showing one of the valvesv completely closing oit the outlet passage, and

Figure 3 is across sectional View taken on the line 3-.3 of Fig. 1.

Similar reference numerals,l 1D the several figures, indicate similar parts.

Primarily my blow out protector is intended for use in conjunction with the surface end of a rotary drill stem above the usual turntable after the Kelly joint has been disconnected although it will be understood that it may with equal facility be applied as a head on the exposed end of a well casing which has been cemented in the well, the only dierence in the two constructions being in the nipple connections. Such uses are determined by circumstances as some wells blow in before it has been possible to elevate the complete length of drill stem from the hole. On other occasions wells do not manifest themselves until after much of the drilling fluid has been bailed out of the hole or until after the oil string of casing has been set and the producing strata either shot or acidised.

In illustrating the essential features of my inventionI have shown a. heavyI metal body |10 having an inlet nipple or lower end threaded. ex-

teriorly at i2' to t. within the tapered thread-edv joint on the upper' end of a section of drill stem. Inh line with this nipple. is a second nipple I3' sim'- ilarly threaded interiorly' at i4' so that if occasion requires two or more similar preventers may be mountedv one. on top of the other in the nature of so. called Christmas Tree by means of which excessive well. pressures are stepped down by means of a series of manually operated' valves.

Extending laterally at opposite sides of: the` body Il! are tubular arms i5 and I6. With one of: these the` passage He in the lowernipple H. is connected by a diagonal passage Hb which ter'. minates at one side of the median line of the body aty its point of juncture with arm t5. The upper nipple passage ISE veers off at its lower end i3b slightlyl in the opposite directiony and communicates with the arm IE.

Secured within the armA t5 by a gland and stuing boxf 2t* is a threaded shaft 2l which. can be advanced. and retracted by the rotation of' a hand wheel' 22` attached toits outer end. This shaft has` at its inner end a tip or die 2t? removably secured by screw threads 2l' so that it may be renewed as occasion requires. Both the shaft and disfare provided with longitudinal perforations thel opening through the die being smaller s oas to provide on its inner side a conical seat 28; A larger conical seat 29 is` formed on the for ward face of'Y the die.y shaft 2| and die 2l is such thatv normally the forward face of the die lies adjacent the proximate edge of opening |3b and* may i necessary be ad"- vanced to close off said opening completely. In a suitable position at the inner end o1"` shaft 2| for registration with the opening |`|b in the body |11' are a plurality of radial passages 33, as shownY in Fig. 3, one or more of which will always be open to the iiow of iiuid from passage Ilb although their area may be diminished by screwing the shaft 2| inwardly.

Threaded in the central longitudinal opening of shaft 2| is a stem 3| the outer end of which extends beyond a packing gland 32 and is provided with a hand wheel 33. At its inner end this stem is provided with a reduced portion 34 and a conical tip 35 adapted to cooperate with the seat 28 on the inner side of the die 26.

By means of the above described arrangement of parts it will be seen that by rotating the hand wheel 22 the area of the pressure outlet may be varied in the first instance by the extent to which the openings 30 in shaft 2| are The over-al1 length of thel advanced over the edge of opening ||b and secondly by the relation of the needle valve 35 to its seat 28. It will also be noticed that with the area of the valve opening 30 adjusted as desired for any given condition that the needle valve may be independently adjusted.

A main shut off valve in the form of a shaft 40 is threaded in the second arm I6. Its outer end passes through a stuiiing box and gland 4| and is provided with an operating wheel 42. At its inner end shaft Ml has a conical tip 43 alined with the seat 29 of die 26 by means of which the outlet for oil or gas may be further regulated.

Valves of this character are employed to bring a newly completed well under control. Initially the uid, be it oil or gas, or a combination thereof, carries detritus in the form of particles of fine sharp sand which escaping under high pressure will rapidly wear away the valve parts. In order that these may be readily replaced and the outlet of the well head controlled the shafts 2| and 40 are made of the same size and alined and provided with identical threads. Thus constructed and each given an over all length it will be seen that shaft 2| may be backed off and shaft 40 correspondingly advanced to completely shut off all communication between passages Hb and I3b and the parts restored to their normal working position by moving them in the reverse direction. Likewise if repair is required of shaft 40 as it is retracted shaft 2| may be advanced.

I claim:

1. A blowout preventer comprising a body having a threaded opening therethrough and being provided with inlet and outlet fluid passages terminating at spaced points within said opening, a shut off valve in one end of said threaded opening, said valve carrying a removable metering die at the inner end thereof and having radial slots for connecting said die with the fluid inlet, a needle valve within said shut olf valve cooperating with the outer end of said die for controlling the pressure of the conducted fluid and a second shut off valve adjustable relative to the inner end of said die for further reducing the fluid pressure.

2. A blowout preventer comprising a body having a threaded opening therethrough and being provided with inlet and outlet fluid passages terminating at spaced points within said opening, a shut off valve in one end of said threaded opening, said valve carrying a removable metering die at the inner end thereof and having radial slots for connecting said die with the fluid inlet, a needle valve Within said shut o valve cooperating with the outer end of said die for controlling the pressure of the conducted uid and a second shut oif valve adjustable relative the fluid pressure, either of said shut off valves being adjustable to effect shut off of said outlet passage.

3. A blowout preventer comprising a body having a threaded opening therethrough and being provided with inlet and outlet fluid passages terminating at spaced points within said opening, a shut oif valve in one end of said threaded opening, said valve carrying a removable metering die at the inner end thereof and having radial slots, and an axial passage for connecting said die with the fluid inlet, said die having an axial metering passage with a conical valve seat at each end thereof, a needle valve Within said shut off valve cooperating with one of said valve seats in said die for controlling the pressure of the conducted fluid, a second shut oif valve threaded within said opening adjustable relative to the other valve seat in said die for further reducing the fluid pressure, either of said shut-off valves being adjustable to effect shutoff of said outlet passage.

4. A blowout preventer comprising a body having a threaded opening therethrough and being provided with inlet and outlet fluid passages terminating at spaced points Within said opening, a shut o valve in one end of said threaded opening, said valve carrying a removable metering die at the inner end thereof and having radial slots movable relative to the iiuid inlet for connecting said die with the uid inlet andv controlling the amount of iiow therethrough, said die having an axial metering passage with a conical valve seat at each end thereof, a needle valve Within said shut off valve cooperating with one of said valve seats in said die for controlling the pressure of the conducted fluid, a second shut 01T valve threaded Within said opening adjustable relative to the other valve seat in said die for further reducing the fluid pressure, either of said shut-off valves being adjustable to effect shut-off of said outlet passage.

GROVElj. CLEARENCE SINGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,081,274 Mueller Dec. 9, 1913 1,543,291 Mueller June 23, 1925 1,886,340 King Nov. l, 1932 2,204,106 Reedy June 11, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 280,404 Great Britain Nov. 17, 1927 

